Catholic Theological Union Names Rev. Richard Benson, CM, as Vice President and Academic Dean

For immediate release

CHICAGO – February 26, 2019. At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Catholic Theological Union (CTU) in Chicago in January 2019, the Rev. Richard Benson, CM, was appointed Vice President and Academic Dean. Benson is a member of the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians) and has a long and distinguished career as Professor, Academic Dean, and Formator, and will replace the Interim Vice President and Academic Dean, Dr. Regina Wolfe, on July 1, 2019.

Fr. Benson, now an Adjunct Professor at DePaul University in the Religious Studies Department, served at St. John’s Seminary, Camarillo, CA as Academic Dean from 1995-2010 and Chair of the Moral Theology Department from 1994-2010. Highly respected as a leader in seminary formation, he was singled out by the Carnegie Foundation for an excellent model of pedagogy for seminarians.

“Dick Benson is the ideal choice to lead Catholic Theological Union as vice president and academic dean,” said President, Fr. Mark Francis, CSV, in announcing the appointment. “He’s an exceptional and experienced academic leader, scholar, and colleague. Dick will bring both great expertise and great humanity to his role as Academic Dean, promoting academic rigor alongside the competence needed by our students to be effective ministers of the Gospel.”

Benson brings extensive experience with the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) and rich history of working with their four pillars of diversity, quality and improvement, collegiality and leadership. At CTU, Fr. Benson will be a chief advisor to the President, and responsible for the academic programs and activities of the school.

Fr. Benson obtained a B.A. in philosophy from St. Mary’s Seminar and a Master of Divinity Degree and a Master of Arts (theology) from De Andreis Institute of Theology. Ordained in 1978, Benson went on to obtain a third Master of Arts degree in biological sciences from California State University. He obtained a License in Sacred Theology, a Ph.D. and Doctorate in Sacred Theology magna cum laude from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.

About Catholic Theological Union

Catholic Theological Union (CTU) is a Roman Catholic graduate school of theology in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. Its mission is to prepare effective leaders for the Church, ready to witness to Christ’s good news of justice, love, and peace. CTU’s 4,000 vowed religious women and men and lay graduates are serving in 60 countries worldwide.